BLAS BUTACAN (SEPTEMBER 14, 1901 – AUGUST 4, 1988)*

SANTIAGA J. BUTACAN (DECEMBER 30, 1902 – MAY 14, 1983)*

 

Kaua`i Is Home

In March 1946, Blas Butacan (47) and son, Jaime (21) returned to Hawai`i on the second of four voyages of the S. S. Maunawili, a former U. S. troopship that brought 6,000 Sakadas – Filipino contract laborers – to work in the plantations of Hawai`i from January 14 to May 27, 1946.  Father and son were among the 1060 men who arrived at Port Allen in `Ele`ele on March 15, after stopping in Honolulu for immigration registration.  Both were assigned to Koloa Plantation.

Looking back, Blas, then 25, and his wife, Maria Medrano, 21, natives of Magsingal, Ilocos Sur, came to Hawai`i in November 1923, on the S. S. President Cleveland.  They were assigned to Maui Agricultural Company in Paia. [HSPA Records] During their sojourn in Paia, they welcomed Jaime and Carolina, born in 1924 and 1927, respectively.

Having completed his three-year contract, Blas and his family returned to the Philippines on October 21, 1927, on the S. S. President Grant when Jaime was 3-1/2-year-old [HSPA Records] and Carolina, six months old.

Moreover, arriving in Honolulu on June 1, 1946, on the S. S. Marine Falcon, a cargo ship built by the United States Maritime Commission during World War II, were the wife and children of Blas Butacan: Santiaga (46), Carolina (20), Revelina (17), Isabel (8), Visitation (4), and Licerio (3). [Hawai`i, Arrivals 1946] Also arriving were Jaime’s wife, Juanita (20) and son Roberto (2).  The group arrived at Nawiliwili on the steamer Waialeale on June 2. [HSPA Records]

Like the S. S. Maunawili, the S. S. Marine Falcon, which brought the families of the 1946 Sakadas to the Territory of Hawai`i – 446 women and 915 children — sailed from Port Salomague, in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur. The ship arrived in Honolulu on June 1, after 11 days at sea.

Koloa Plantation Days

According to Lee, as Licerio is known by family and friends, the Butacan Family lived in Spanish Camp from 1946 to 1959, when they moved to Korean Camp after Hurricane Dot caused damage to the island the first week of August 1959.

Leila Liva, the third child of Carolina and Dionicio (Joe) Valdez, shared in an email on July 29, 2021:

“During the summers, we stayed with Lelong [grandfather] and Lelang [grandmother]

Butacan in Korean Camp. We would walk over to Tanaka Store to get a treat. I remember the walk in the hot sun and getting cool shelter finally in Tanaka Store.  Mark Tanaka was my age, and classmates with my cousins Rodney Bristol and Wilson Butacan. I loved the camp life and taking showers in the banyo [bathroom] and helping Lelong feed the pigs. My most vivid memory . . . was watching them kill pigs for parties and enjoying the dancing and the Filipino music. My dad played the mandolin in a lot of the parties. … “

At Spanish Camp, the Butacan Family’s neighbors included the Pacanas Family, Agustin Family, Abara Family, Bumacod Family, Tabalno Family, and Ramos Family.  Jaime, Juanita, and their young family also lived in the neighborhood.  The Rabasa Family lived near Waihohonu Stream; many of the camp houses were built near the stream — the stream that flooded the homes on Waihohonu Street in Koloa during the rain storm on April 14, 2018.

Blas continued his plantation job with Grove Farm Company, which bought Koloa Sugar Company in January 1948.  With that said, he and Santiaga moved to Puhi, where they lived until 1983.  After Blas retired from Grove Farm in the early 1960’s, he worked as a groundskeeper at Kiahuna Plantation Resort in Po`ipu, retiring in the early 1980’s.  After Santiaga died in 1983, Blas moved to and lived at New Mill Camp, Koloa Plantation’s housing near the 1913 Koloa Mill.

Life on the Garden Island and Beyond

Jaime M. Butacan (April 8,1924 – November 23,1977)* and Juanita Briones Butacan (June 15, 1926 – May 15, 2016) were parents to three sons: Roberto, Florendo, and Wilson; and two daughters: Caroline & Merlyn.  When Jaime and Juanita first arrived on Kaua`i with their infant son Roberto, they may have lived in Spanish Camp and moved to Korean Camp as the family grew.  Jaime continued his employment with Grove Farm until his death at age 53. (See Also The Filipinos of Koloa, Part One: pages 97 – 98)

Carolina Butacan Valdez (April 18, 1927 – September12, 2012) and Dionicio (Joe) Valdez (May 9, 1912 – June 9, 1985) made their home in Hanapepe Heights, where Leila grew up with her two brothers and two sisters. Carolina and Joe managed Joe’s Service Station in Hanapepe that included a store, gas station, and barber shop.  Joe, a native of Camiling, Tarlac, was the town’s barber.

Revelina Butacan Bristol (January 21, 1929 – April 29, 2020) married Federico (Fred) Baldivino Bristol(July 18, 1924 – July 24, 2011), a native of Pangansinan who also came to Kaua`i in 1946. They were parents to three daughters and two sons, who grew up in Koloa.  The family later built a lovely home in Puhi across Kaua`i Community College.  Federico was with McBryde Sugar Company; Revelina was a hostess at Westin Kaua`i Hotel.

Isabel Elizabeth Butacan Speck was born on July 8, 1938.  Conching, as she is known to family and friends, graduated from St. Francis High School on O`ahu and studied nursing at Kapi`olani Technical School.  She made her home in  Missouri, where she worked as a nurse in a doctor’s office.  Now retired, she lives in Fresno, California.

Visitation Butacan Brittain, born on June 11, 1941, arrived in Hawai`i when she was four.  After graduating from St. Francis High School on O`ahu in 1959, she attended Honolulu Business College.  She was employed by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company before moving to California, where she worked for the Oceanside Police Department.  She subsequently worked for the Department of Defense in Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, and Okinawa.

Vee, as family and friends call her, was bookkeeper for her parish, Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Jacksonville, FL. Now semi-retired in Jacksonville, she volunteers at the Women’s Help Center.

Licerio George Butacan, who came to Hawai`i as a three-year-old, was born in Aparri in the province of Cagayan on August 7, 1942.  While in high school, he worked in the canefields of Grove Farm during summer vacations, like most teenage boys did when the plantations were in business. With that said, he is familiar with the word kalai — to hoe, to weed sugarcane fields —  the one-word job description in Hawaiian for teenage plantation summer hires.

After graduating from Kaua`i High School in 1961, Lee attended Kaua`i Technical School from 1961 to 1963, and earned a certificate in automotive mechanics.

The busboy and waiter at Kaua`i Surf Hotel from 1961 to 1964 went on to earn an AA degree from University of Maryland in 1982, a BS degree from University of Southern Illinois in 1983, and a MA degree from University of Central Michigan in 1985.

Lee served in the U. S. Army Veterinary Activity.  His last assignment was at Fort Stewart, Georgia, as First Sergeant.  From 1991 to 1997, he worked as lead life guard and head swim instructor at the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, FL.  He worked 13 years for USDA as import/export inspector, retiring in 2011.

The father of four — two sons from his wife June (Murray) Butacan, and a son and a daughter from a previous marriage — calls Jacksonville, FL, home.  He has nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

 

SOURCES:

Brigham Young University.  “Filipino Laborers Collection.” [Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association“Records of Filipino Laborers”]. Provo, UT:  Harold B. Lee Library.  Digital Collection. [HSPA Records]

Brittain, Visitation Butacan.  Jacksonville, FL.  June 5, 2018; July 21, August 9, 2021.

Butacan, Licerio George.  Jacksonville, FL.  June 16, 2018; August 9, 2021.

“Hawaii, Honolulu Passenger Lists, 1900 – 1953.”  FamilySearch.org.

“Hawaii, Index to Filipino Arrivals to Honolulu, 1946.”  FamilySearch.org.

“Hawaii, Index to Filipino Passengers Arriving at Honolulu, 1900 – 1952.”  FamilySearch.org.

“Honolulu, Hawaii, Index to Passengers Arriving, 1900 – 1952.”  www.ancestry.ca.

Liva, Leila (Valdez).  `Ewa Beach, HI.  July 21 & 29, August 9, 2021.

Pukui, Mary Kawena, Samuel H. Elbert, Esther T. Mookini.  Place Names of Hawaii.  Rev. & expanded ed. Honolulu:  University of Hawai`i Press,1974.

Lo, Catherine. The Garden Island Index, 1971 – 1980.  Lihu`e, HI: Kaua`i Library Association, 1987.

Newspaperarchive.com.. Raphael Church.  “Church Cemetery pdf.” Koloa:  The Church, n.d.

The Garden Island.  Obituary:  Federico Bristol.  August 4, 2011.  Thegardenisland.com.

The Garden Island. Obituary:  Revelina Bristol.   July 22, 2020.  Thegardenisland.com.

The Garden Island.  Obituary: Jaime Butacan.  December 2, 1977.  The gardenisland.com.

The Garden Island.  Obituary: Carolina Butacan Susterich.  September 16, 2012.

Thegardenisland.com.

*Buried at St. Raphael Church Cemetery, Koloa Road, Kaua`i, HI.

 

Copyright 2021 © Catherine Pascual Lo

 Posted August 10, 2021